Sunday, 21 August 2011

This summer I did something very different... I ran a day camp. One in
July and one in August. The goal is to take young kids out into nature
and teach them the ancient ways. The way our ancestors learned way back
when. There were no formal schools, nothing with walls, just the great
outdoors and an elder that possessed the wisdom and knowledge of nature,
the ways to read your surroundings so you can hunt and gather better.
So that you have an appreciation for your community as you all work
together to accomplish tasks. And to gain your own self confidence,
skills and esteem of who you are and where you fit into this world.

I
was very excited to embark on this new adventure and one of my own
mentors said something in my own teaching and learning, and that was to
approach each person you are mentoring with new eyes. To participate in
the wonder and the newness and the unknown found in the eyes of our
young. This really stuck with me as I took the camp kids out on our
daily excursions into the woods, to a local stream or pond. That it is
in their own unknown that they will learn the most. And to be honest,
it is in this unknown that I learn the most too.

Sometimes we get
caught up in the teacher role. That we must feed the answers to our
students, filling them up with facts and information, in hopes that they
will remember them. I know I have, and to be honest, has stopped me in
teaching something because I didn't have the answers. Perhaps this is
what stops other teachers, and parents. That we feel we must know the
answer... but really, it couldn't be farther from the truth.

Have
you ever watched a child try to catch a frog? Do you notice that they
are first quick, jumping about, hollering and chasing it through the
grass or pond, only to be eluded in the end. Disappointed they may give
up... or do they? I tried telling how to catch a frog... that you have
to be slow, stalking, fox walking, and quiet. But I find they ignore
what you are saying and continue their own method of capturing.

But
if you get down on all fours with them, and try to catch frogs with
them, moving slowly, stalking, fox walking and being quiet, they watch.
When they see you wrap your hands around an unsuspecting frog and
capture it, all their senses come alive. Hmmmm, so that is how you do
it.

Many people say, when the student is ready, the teacher will
appear, but I like to think that Rachel Carson said it best in the end
of one her quotes:

"It is more
important to pave the way for a child to want to know than to put him on
a diet of facts that he is not ready to assimilate."

So true. And
it is through this that I learn that I do not need to know all the
answers. That through playing games and discovering together, that I can
lead a child to their edge of comfort. That through that edge, that
child will learn to focus their attention, to sit still, to work
together among their peers, to be part of a community, to gain
confidence in their own skills and their self esteem through it. It is
through this discovering together in nature that allows each individual
to do this on their own terms. I am just glad to be part of it and
discover myself through the eyes of a child.

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About Me

I have a passion for mud, dirt, nature, and love bugs. Always on the look out for the next adventure in nature. I love exploring with kids and discovering through their eyes. You will find me usually in a child-like state, the only way to live.

Have fun outdoors, and if you are not getting dirty, you are not having any fun